Turmoil at Brazilian Research Center

More than 100 researchers have left a neuroscience institute in Brazil in the last couple of weeks, protesting managerial problems they say are thwarting their work.

Written byJef Akst

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Dozens of researchers are walking out the door of the Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neuroscience of Natal (ELS-IINN) in Brazil, frustrated with the center’s management, ScienceInsider reports. Since the end of July, 10 principal investigators have shut down their labs, and more than 100 students, postdocs, and technicians have stopped working at the facility, including one of the institute's co-founders, Sidarta Ribeiro.

The dramatic actions stem from the researchers’ frustrations with management policies that they claim is hurting their research, hindering access to equipment and facilities. Ribeiro and the other defectors have now formed their own institute, under Ribeiro’s direction, at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte.

"It's unfortunate, but it's their decision," neuroscientist Miguel Nicolelis, scientific director of ELS-IINN, ...

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Meet the Author

Jef Akst
Jef (an unusual nickname for Jennifer) got her master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses. After four years of diving off the Gulf Coast of Tampa and performing behavioral experiments at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, she left research to pursue a career in science writing. As The Scientist's managing editor, Jef edited features and oversaw the production of the TS Digest and quarterly print magazine. In 2022, her feature on uterus transplantation earned first place in the trade category of the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.
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